Chinese scholars living abroad are increasingly being attracted home by opportunities to carve out careers in local industrial parks.
To harness the interest, an event designed to assist overseas-based Chinese scholars to start a local business is being held this week -- and they have returned in their hundreds.
At least 400 scholars from 16 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Sweden and France arrived in Shanghai and Beijing on Sunday.
The event, jointly sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, All-China Youth Federation and Western Returned Scholar Association, will show them more than 30 industrial parks in major Chinese cities.
The parks are located in 14 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities like Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Shannxi and Guangdong, where the scholars and business people can investigate the local business situation.
Zhuang Yongquan, a software businessman from the US' Silicon Valley, said he believes China is a large potential market for e-business models. Zhuang brings with him expertise on enterprise resource planning and customer resource management software applications to Beijing.
Many other high-caliber professionals in materials and energy, finance, coat-plating and chemicals have come to look for opportunities in Chinese industrial parks, which usually offer returned scholars preferential policies.
An estimated 380,000 people have studied abroad since the reform and opening up policy was implemented 23 years ago. Among them, an estimated 130,000 have come back, said Lu Hong, director of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Youth League.
And many of the remainder want to come back or set up certain businesses with domestic counterparts, Lu said.
The official said the event was being held to serve this purpose.
Jiao Jie, a mechanism major who had been in Japan for 11 years and has since moved his business to Vancouver in Canada, said: "The program is a timely one."
Concerning the domestic situation, the prosperous and stable society and booming economic situation are big attractions.
(China Daily December 25, 2002)
